The Kochi Metro, Kerala’s first Metro service, is India’s first integrated multi-mode transport system. The Metro has employed 23 transgenders in various departments, and trains will be driven mainly by women from a self-help group.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the maiden run of the Kochi Metro on Saturday, and took a ride on one of the trains. One of the fastest to be built in the country, the Kochi Metro is the first public transport system to reserve jobs for members of the third sex and it will be manned mainly by women a self-help group. Modi also launched the PN Panicker National Reading Day – Reading Month Celebrations.

Here are the highlights:

1.50 pm: As PM Modi leaves for Delhi, a controversy erupts over the BJP’s Kerala unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan being allowed to travel with the PM in the Kochi Metro as his name was not there in the list. The CM’s office says no idea how Kummanam got into the Metro, while MP NK Premachandran calls it a “protocol violation”.

11 am: PM Modi reaches Palarivattam station. Cuts ribbon and enters station and boards Metro as its first passenger. Will travel to Pathadippalam station and return to Palarivattam again in 15 minutes. Sreedharan and VIPs including Union minister Venkaiah Naidu travelling with PM Modi.

10.45 am: All set for the big event. PM Modi to arrive soon at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor.

10.15 am: PM Modi arrives at the Kochi naval base in a special aircraft. Governor Sathasivam and CM Pinarayi Vijayan receive him .

9.35 am: A movie on making of the Kochi Metro and it’s architect E Sreedharan, directed by M Padmakumar, will be released in December.

9.25 am: The Metro will usher in a new work culture, says its architect E Sreedharan.

9.21 am: PM Modi expected to land at the Kochi naval base at 10am. He will proceed to Palarivattom station to board the Metro to Pathadipplam and will return to Palarivattom. Then he will proceed to Kaloor international stadium, the venue of the inaugural ceremony.

9.20 am: City is all decked up to welcome PM Modi. With high security, the port city looks like a fort. A poster war is on the city, on who should get credit for the Metro. The CPI(M), the Congress and the Centre’s ruling BJP all claim credit.

9.10 am: “We are really excited. It will open a new window for us. With this, we hope other institutions and organisations open their doors for us,” says Raga Ranjini, a transgender post-graduate who will be manning a ticket counter at one of the stations.

9.05 am: The Metro has employed 23 transgenders in various departments based on their qualifications. More workers from the community will be inducted after gauging their success, says Kerala Metro Rail Limited managing director Elias George.

The Kochi Metro is the county’s first fully integrated metro. With one ticket, a commuter can travel in feeder services along road and water.

It has also installed solar panels atop all stations to tap green energy. Once fully operational, the Metro’s entire power demand will be met by these panels.

In the first phase, trains will operate for a distance of 13 km — Aluva to Palarivattom. There are 11 stations in the 13-km stretch that will be covered in 20 minutes. Later, it will be extended to Maharajas College.

Construction for the first phase began in 2012 after the then Oommen Chandy government entrusted the work to the DMRC with E Sreedharan as its principal advisor.